Boeing and NASA Postpone Starliner Crew Launch Minutes Before Liftoff

 

Boeing's inaugural Starliner flight carrying astronauts was aborted in the final minutes on Saturday. The mission, set for June 1 at 12:25 p.m. ET, aimed to transport astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) as a critical final test of the system.

 

The launch was automatically halted with less than four minutes remaining in the countdown due to an unspecified issue, as announced by NASA during the broadcast. Holds and scrubs are common in rocket launches. The crew on board are safe and have disembarked.

 

The Starliner capsule, carrying two NASA astronauts, was to be launched by United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket to the ISS. Boeing has backup launch dates, including Sunday at 12:03 p.m. EDT, with other potential dates on June 5th and June 6th.

 

Earlier in May, NASA and Boeing called off a launch attempt due to a problematic valve in the rocket, which was subsequently replaced by ULA, a joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin. Following the May delay, a "small" helium leak was found in Starliner, leading to further assessments. The leak was deemed stable and not a flight safety issue.

 

Starliner’s crew debut has faced multiple delays, with SpaceX’s Dragon capsule regularly flying astronauts for NASA since 2020 under the Commercial Crew program. Boeing has incurred $1.5 billion in costs due to Starliner setbacks and received nearly $5 billion in NASA development funds.

 

Despite initial expectations, Starliner has fallen behind SpaceX’s Dragon in becoming a primary spacecraft for NASA, even leading to the reassignment of astronauts from Boeing's first crew flights in 2021. Boeing is contracted to fly six operational Starliner missions to the ISS, and Saturday's test represents the final major step before obtaining NASA certification for regular missions. 

Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are the astronauts flying on Starliner, with Wilmore as the commander and Williams as the pilot. Wilmore, a NASA astronaut since 2000, has flown on the Space Shuttle and Russia’s Soyuz. Williams, selected by NASA in 1998, has also flown on both the Space Shuttle and Soyuz. Both astronauts have backgrounds as U.S. Navy pilots. 

Starliner launches on ULA’s Atlas V, which debuted in 2002. This mission marks its 100th launch. The Starliner capsule can carry up to four NASA astronauts and more than 200 pounds of research and cargo, utilizing a parachute and airbag system for landing. Each capsule is designed for up to 10 missions. 

Boeing’s crew flight test aims to certify the Starliner system for carrying NASA astronauts to and from the ISS. If launched on Saturday, Starliner would spend about 25 hours in space before docking with the ISS at 1:50 p.m. on Sunday. The astronauts are expected to stay on the ISS for about a week, focusing on testing Starliner, before returning to Earth.